
Captive Birth

What does it mean?
These are animals that joined our collection because they were born in captivity and would not be able to thrive in the wild.


Captive Birth
Animals
There are many reasons why animals at a Zoo many be born in captivity. The most common reason is that the animal species is considered Endangered or Threatened and it is important to preserve the species. One of the ways to get an animal off the endangered list is to increase the reproductive rate of the animal. However, unless rigid guidelines are followed (such as with our Red Wolf Pack), the animal may not be suitable to be released into the wild. Those animals are then used to education guests on the importance of the species and ways they can help protect it from becoming extinct.
Eurasian Lynx are medium size cats that come in variety of colors and patterns. Coat color can vary with the season and locality. They have long legs and large, snowshoe-like paws. Both their short tail and ear tufts are tipped with black fur. Weights can range from 10 to 20kg for females and 18 to 40 kg for males.
Lynx are typically crepuscular, active at dawn and dusk, or nocturnal. They will use dense thickets, trees, and rocky outcroppings to rest during the day.
Lynx are solitary except for during the breeding season. During the breeding season lynx make a wide variety of vocalizations. Vocalizations include, mews, yowls, hisses, and purrs.
Though Though fairly common red foxes are shy, secretive, nocturnal and cunning which makes them difficult to observe.
Red foxes use a variety of vocalizations to communicate among themselves.
They are a medium sized perching duck. The males are more elaborate with multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes, with a distinctive white flare down the neck. The females are less elaborate.
These birds have distinct coloration with a blue and black body. Their heads are black with a white speckled crown and orange skin surrounding the eyes. The bright blue tails are one of the longest in the corvid (crow) family and have a diamond shape when extended in flight.
Black bears are North America's most familiar and common bears. They typically live in forests and are excellent tree climbers, but are also found in mountains and swamps. Despite their name, black bears can be blue-gray or blue-black, brown, cinnamon, or even (very rarely) white.
The tufted deer gets its name from the tuft of hair seen on the top of its head. In captivity, tufted deer can live for up to 15 years. There are estimated to be about 10,000 tufted deer in China. The tufted deer is a crepuscular animal, most active at dawn and dusk. When fleeing the tufted deer holds its tail up revealing the white underside, much like the white-tailed deer. The tail flops down with ever cat-like bounce, making the deer's progress difficult to follow. Tufted deer are territorial, and rarely leave their home range, which is criss-crossed by a network of trails. Both sexes will bark when alarmed.
